Section: Institute for Policy Studies (USA)
What Do Voters Want?
The Right is resurgent! The Left is Back! The Center is on the march! It’s always tempting to declare, on the basis of a few elections, that a political tendency is on the ascendant. I should know: I’ve done it myself. But the only commonality in the most recent consequential elections—France, the UK, and Iran—is that voters can be...
You Think Trump Is Bad?
Poland is supposed to be one of the politically sane places in Europe right now. The far-right Law and Justice Party lost national elections last year to a centrist coalition and exited power after eight long years of democratic repression. Donald Tusk, who’d previously been the president of the European Council, once again became the...
A Slippery Slope to World War III?
Ukraine can now use U.S. weapons to strike at targets inside Russia. That permission comes with numerous asterisks. The targets are geographically restricted to the northeast region across the border from Kharkiv, for instance, and Ukraine has only received the go-head to use short-range missiles. Other Ukrainian allies are less cautious. The...
Tariffs on China: Trump Was Dumb, Biden Dumber.
Japan’s recovery from the devastation of World War II was assisted by another war. Japanese manufacturers and the service industries around military bases received a big lift when they helped U.S. forces during the Korean War. A little over a decade later, South Korea got a similar boost when its manufacturers helped the U.S. military...
Europe Braces for the Next Ukraine
If Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election in November, all sorts of hell will break loose. Mexico will face a huge border crisis. China will be hit with a new wave of tariffs. Ukraine will begin preparing itself for abandonment. And Milorad Dodik will tear apart Bosnia. Perhaps you’ve never heard of Milorad Dodik. He is the leader...
Ukraine, Israel, and the Incoherence of U.S. Foreign Policy
The process of crafting congressional legislation is often likened to sausage-making. Best not to look behind the scenes at the mechanics of the process, which is a bloody mess. But the analogy is not apt. Sure, sausage-making can be ugly. The end product, however, is presentable and usually quite tasty. The legislation that emerges from the U.S....
Last Year, You Spent More Than a Month’s Rent on Pentagon Contractors
Ever wonder where your taxes go? Each year, the Institute for Policy Studies releases a tax receipt so you can find out. One item always stands out: the Pentagon — and the contractors who profit off it. In 2023, the average taxpayer spent $2,974 on the Pentagon. Of that, just $705 went to salaries for the troops, who often have to rely on...
Stopping the Dance of Death: Building a 21st Century Anti-War Movement
With Israel carrying out a U.S.-armed and funded genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, tensions in the South China Sea, and the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight, abandoning militarism has perhaps never been more urgent. In this thoughtful roundtable, Institute for Policy Studies fellow Phyllis Bennis, Rutgers University professor Jackson...
The Critical Missing Piece from the U.S. Energy Transition
At the outset, the United States was blessed with enormous tracts of land (that it stole from the natives) and a considerable labor force (that it enslaved from Africa) to achieve economic success based largely on growing things. The next leap forward—into the industrial era—was facilitated by large deposits of coal and oil. A century later,...
Militarized Funding in Biden Budget Totals Well Over $1 Trillion (and it will grow)
Today the White House released President Biden’s budget proposal, including a proposal for $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending for FY 2025, which begins on October 1, 2024. While the larger budgets makes some important strides forward, this discretionary proposal won’t provide security we need, in terms of costs of living, quality...
